US Open Tennis 2011: Time Is Right for Andy Murray to Win Major

After surviving matches than can only be compared to heavyweight fights against Robin Haase and John Isner, Andy Murray seems to be able to withstand any kind of adversity.

Playing as well as he is and with those tough matches under his belt, the time is right for Murray to finally break through and win his first Grand Slam event.

On the surface, it would seem like a terrible time for him to break through. Novak Djokovic is playing well and has really yet to be challenged, Rafael Nadal has stifled fears that his body is breaking down and Roger Federer looks better than he has in years.

None of those favorites have what Murray has in this tournament, however. None of those players have the experience of being on the brink of elimination and coming back.

Murray has arguably done it twice.

In the second round, he took on Robin Haase. Haase took the first two sets, but then Murray turned it on to win the last three, but not before Haase pushed him again in the fifth set.

Then, in the quarterfinals, Murray was pushed again by John Isner. It was "only" a four-set match, but Isner was really close to pulling this one out. In the fourth set, Isner was a tiebreaker win away from taking the second set to even it at two sets apiece. If you get into a fifth set with Isner and his serve, you are playing with fire.

These matches can be viewed as a negative because they take a lot out of you, but they can also toughen a player up. Literally no odds against Murray from here on out will be viewed as insurmountable since he has come back from two sets down to win.

Coming from two sets down against a top player like Djokovic, Federer and Nadal is different than coming back from two sets down to Robin Haase, but it's a confidence builder nonetheless.

Andy Murray loves the US Open hard courts and he has admitted that it's on this surface that he has his best shot to beat Rafael Nadal, his semifinal opponent.

Given all that he has gone through in these past two weeks, why can't Andy Murray get his first major win this weekend?